FLOWER POT KITCHEN: FIVE SPICED ROASTED PORK BELLY

7 Apr 2013

FIVE SPICED ROASTED PORK BELLY

SWEET & STICKY FIVE SPICED STEAM ROASTED BELLY PORK SERVED WITH LEMONGRASS, GINGER AND COCONUT STICKY RICE

INGREDIENTS

(serves 4)

750+g piece of belly pork skin on

3 tsp ground five spice

3 star anise

large pinch salt

50ml kenjap manis soy

25ml dark soy

1 tbsp soft brown sugar

1 1/2 sticks lemongrass one finely grated

2" fresh ginger grated

1 hot red chilli fine chopped

1 green pepper diced

2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander

1 cup of rice

1 tin of coconut milk

1 cup water

100ml reduced chicken stock

Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees and place a roasting tray with a rack on top in the oven to warm up, place a litre of water in the tray with the whole star anise, Pat your pork belly skin dry with some kitchen paper and sprinkle generously with salt, then rub the whole of the belly pork with the five spice powder. Place on the rack in your pre-heated oven and cook for 40-60 minutes depending on the size and for the skin to crisp up and have crackling. Once cooked remove and leave to cool.

TO COOK FABULOUS RICE

Take the cup of rice, (for sticky rice I don't rinse), place the cup rice in your saucepan with the coconut milk, half a whole stick of lemon grass the water and chicken stock, not stirring bring to a simmer and place the lid on, reduce heat a little and cook for 6 minutes, take off the heat, do not be tempted to stir, throw in half only of the grated lemongrass, ginger, coriander, green pepper and chilli, place the lid back on and do not touch for 10 minutes, this allows the rice to finish cooking.

While the rice is cooking and the pork is resting I like to take the crackling off the belly pork at this point, if my hubby is about we cant help ourselves and we eat this now!

To finish the pork while the rice is resting, square chop the juicy rested pork into chunky cubes and heat in the wok over a high heat toss in the kentjap mantis, soy, sugar, then the last half of the lemongrass, ginger, chilli and green pepper for a couple of minutes then serve on top of the rice with a generous sprinkle of fresh coriander

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LIFE MY PASSION

Welcome to my daily life of cooking, one winters day many years ago my family and I were all inspired by a back to back rainy day of River Cottage this got us to stop talking about and start actually doing, suddenly three weeks later eight vegetable beds were dug, greenhouse erected and our first vegetables were propagating, this was the start to raising and growing our own food, our fabulous son Oscar changed our path in life which lead us to sell our small thriving restaurant of 10 yrs and to start our new life (Terrifying!) a life of the self sufficient in touch with nature and seasons, taking a step back and looking forward to a slower change of pace and making the most of every moment.

My passion for cooking was stronger than ever and having time at home with Oscar I found I had a new direction and I was no longer striving for perfection, I was suddenly very passionate for the enjoyment of the other side of food, something I had not realised, being the Chef/Cook and every other duty of your own small restaurant made me see that I never actually took time to cook what I wanted!

So there I was muddy boots and hands digging deep in more than one sense and I found myself transported back in time to where everyone grew some of their own food, it is a wonderful world with a real sense of achievement and loss, Slugs Snails and Caterpillars! But thats another story! Childhood memories of summers when I lived with my grand parents reminded me of so much that I had learnt about the make do and mend generation that I had forgotten.

Now as a family we love our free wild food days where we gather what nature has provided, have gone from being mini mini garden urban small holders, who did raised pigs at home because we could not wait to find land and supporting ourselves from our garden to now owning a very small farm that allows us to grow more vegetables for the whole of our family and neighbours, raise our own gorgeous Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, (Sausages!) and pets! Dorset Down sheep, chickens for eggs and pet goats! Suddenly having large quantities of produce started to wake up the Cook in me!

The Cook was awake that part of me that wants to cook for the masses and I found myself setting up Flowerpot Kitchen, a Farmers Market Stall, I wanted to use our honest raised meats and make old fashioned pork pies, rabbit pies and game pies from the local game keeper along with old fashioned techniques and the best hot water crust pastry. This in turn grew to a small cottage industry from home weekly supplying three farm shops and a deli along with also attending three farmers markets A few years later there came a time when my son Oscar's health changed and it was an easy decision to stop.

I still hold the occasional pop up 40 seater restaurant or gourmet lunch which we do for local charities for the love of sharing food and to remind that Cook in me why I love our go slower self sufficient life!

So here I am sitting amoung the vegetables watching the chickens loving that every season nature teaches me something new and that nature is in charge! She has taught me to just go with it and grow. Give it a try from a tray of salad on your windowsill to a few tomato plants it all counts.